Winter Festivals – Comparison Task

December is not just the month of Christmas, in years gone by there have been many festivals that have been at this time. In fact, Jesus’ birth was most likely not in December, but there were so many festivals at this time that Christians chose this time to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Pagan’s celebrate the Winter Solstice every year, which is the shortest day of the year. There is normally a big celebration at Stonehenge.

Hanukkah

Driedel

In 2016, Hannukkah starts at dusk on the 24th December and lasts for 8 days. This is a Jewish festival of light. It celebrates the time when Jews won a battle against the greeks. They lit an oil lamp in their temple that only had enough oil to burn for 1 day but the oil lasted 8 days. This is why the festival lasts for 8 days. See the Video below to see how Jewish people celebrate Hannukkah.

Christmas and Hanukkah

There are many similarities between Christmas and Hanukkah as well as some differences.

This week in class we have been looking at the similarities and differences between Christmas and Hanukkah- creating a Venn Diagram to compare the two. Here’s a blank copy of the Venn Diagram if you want a shot at comparing the two festivals.